Digital Camera Questions??

I'm about to come out of the stone-age today and buy a digital camera. Yea!! Now I can post bike pictures. I have already picked out the camera, a Kodak CX6330. My question is memory cards. The camera has 16MB internal and I see where I can buy 64MB or 128MB cards. Do you have to have a card reader for these???? I was always under the assumption that you just inserted these into the camera and when you were ready to download on the computer, you just connect the USB port and download. On the websites where you order from I notice they are selling these card readers. I'm physically going in to Target to buy this camera but I don't want the kid behind the service desk selling me anything I don't need. Thanks in advance for any help.

Also should I buy extra batteries???? I'm taking a trip to the Biltmore Estate this weekend and I'm sure I will be taking lots of pictures.

Nope, you should not need a card reader, there should be a USB port (or at least a serial connection, but most of them should be USB these days) that you can use to download images from the camera. You should be able to check the camera itself (which I'm not familiar with) and look for the data output. Most cameras would have

1)a DC input for a power source either to run off an AC outlet or to recharge a proprietary battery in the camera

2)a Data output (be that USB or Serial) to download images and communicate via software to a PC or Mac

3)usually a NTSC/PAL output for direct connection to a TV

As far as extra batteries, it's always good to have. You should buy a set of nice 2200maH rechargeable NiMH batteries if your camera uses standard AA batteries.. Make sure you check this before you buy batteries and find out you need a Kodak one! Then again, my DC280 used 4 standard AA batteries.

If you don't use your LCD screen that much, your batteries will last longer, more than enough for a typical 2/3 day weekend. Check out www.dcresource.com, usually their reviews would list the number of pictures taken with a standard set of batteries and from there you can get an idea of how many shots you can take on one set of fresh batteries.

[edit] a quick google search shows that it does indeed have a USB output. I guess Kodak switched to SD cards too. )

I've had several since 1999 but have settled on my beloved 2001 Litespeed Tuscany and my latest, a 2015 Cannondale SuperSix EVO carbon

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Originally Posted by zman92atl

Also should I buy extra batteries???? I'm taking a trip to the Biltmore Estate this weekend and I'm sure I will be taking lots of pictures.

Zman,
Ditto on the rechargeable batteries.
When I got my digital camera in December 2001 I tried Energizer AA batteries. They lasted for 2 pictures.
Went out the next day and bought 1600 mAh NiMH batteries with the charger and haven't had any dead or low battery problems.

BTW: I got the batteries and charger at Batteries Plus. They had the best price and selection.

My bikes:2001 Litespeed Tuscany---2015 Cannondale SuperSix EVO carbon

If you worried about falling off the bike, you’d never get on. -- Lance Armstrong

Your gonna love the digital camera! Take all the pictures you want, delete what you don't like.

Ditto on the extra batteries. Personally, one of my requirements for a digital camera was that it accepted normal rechargables, so I wouldn't have to pay out the wazoo for proprietary backup batteries.

Regarding additional memory cards... you can do some math (or the documentation will tell you) an approximate number of photos per card. I did fine with 16Mb, but am currently using something larger, don't remember the size.

Biltmore is awesome... did the tour last summer. You should be hitting Asheville just about right for leaf color. Have a great trip!

I'd advise you to get at least an extra 128 mb SD card. At 55 to 60 bucks, they are as inexpensive as a few rolls of 35 mm film, plus developing, and they last forever. I have several 128 mb memory cards for my camera, so that I can go off for a weekend, take all the pictures I want, and not have to worry about downloading to the laptop.

Yup you'll need lots of batteries?

Every pic has a address you'll become familar with that
You don't need a memory card right now If your just starting out
E:\camera\imag0001.jpg
When you click on attachment to send a pic with your email
just type the pic address In..Then connect the camera
no sense In having camera plugged Into computer all the
time It Is not necessary?but necessary to send the pic yes !

I'm trying to choose between two different cameras, but I'm no camera geek. If there's someone out there that can interpret the reviews and let me know which one they think is best, here are the two cameras I'm looking at:

If anyone has a preference, I just would like to know why they prefer one over the other. I'm going to be doing a lot of travelling next year, and I want the best camera I can possibly find because I'd like to do some photography shows and possibly sell my pictures, and with other pictures, I'd like to sell them to magazines and such. I've got some great tentative trips planned out, and this is pretty important to me!

Koffee, I would suggest going to the two sites below, as others have suggested in previous messages, and go to the conclusions section. That will give you a much better idea of which camera to buy.

Without knowing exactly what kind of pictures and situations you'll be taking, it's pretty hard to give a recommendation. Jeff Keller's (dcresource)reviews in particular are very honest and straitforward.

These sites also have a forums section where there are helpful people, just like here, who will give you lots of useful info on particular camera. I'm thinking of getting into digital as well, and have been haunting these and other sites for the last few months!

Can anyone give opinions on the following two cameras I am debating over? I've done thorough research on the web so far, but I'd like some personal experiences if possible.

Sony DSC-P92
Kodak EasyShare DX4530

Both are 5 Megapixel and 3.0 optical, and just over $300 (the Sony only after a mail-in rebate though, hate those). The Sony and its propritary memory sticks make me cringe a little, but I don't know. This would be a general use for me and my wife (who is no tech wiz, no offense, she admits it) so the EasyShare wins in that category as well. But is the Sony worthwhile for its reliability and few extra features that we might not even use, like the white balance options and the feature modes (like sepia, negative, etc) that we could do on photoshop or other program? I am leaning towards the Kodak for a first dig camera, then when time for the second one a few years down the road, we can upgrade with extra features.

The Canon doesn't have wide angle lenses for the big shots. Unless they specially make me a camera, it ain't gonna happen, cap'n.

One thing I've learned is that cheaper is not necessarily better. I know what I want, and if it's not being offered, why pay less? You pay less because you get less. I am always willing to pay more to get more. In the long run, I'll get that money back anyway.

I would recommend the Nikon Coolpix 5400. I have its predecessor, the 5000, and find it to be an excellent camera both for picture quality and ease of use.

Concerning the Card Reader vs. the direct USB cable from camera to computer, I highly recommend a reader because the offer much better transfer speed. Depending of your camera pixel ability get a 128MB or 256MB card, better get two of them if you are shooting a lot.

I highly recommend a reader because the offer much better transfer speed. Depending of your camera pixel ability get a 128MB or 256MB card, better get two of them if you are shooting a lot.

Yes, a card reader is faster and more convenient.

I use my Optio S several times a week because it's always with me, being small enough to fit in any pocket (jacket,shirt or jersey) and it uses SD cards that download quickly via a $20 reader without having the camera tethered to the computer. These features are so convenient that they are invaluable timesavers for me, whether taking shots for work or pleasure. I have 128MB (came with the camera) and 256MB cards. I have never lacked for storage even when I shoot many high-resolution pictures, several 30-second video clips and voice memos on the same card. I just stick in another card when I need it and only bring the full card to the computer for download, not the whole camera.

SD card memory capacities continue to rise as their prices continue to fall. 512MB now available with 1GB next year (very costly - but they drive down prices for the lower capacities.)

Heck, SD memory transfer speeds and capacities are now getting high enough that the first generation of SD card digital video cameras are on the market now - no DV tape or DVD recorders necessary to be built in the camera.

Have fun!

I'll gently rise and I'll softly call
Good night and joy be with you all.

I read everything I could get me eyes on concerning digital cameras. I read reviews and then read the reviews about the reviews because I wanted to make sure I was going to pick the best digital camera my leftside of my brain would allow me to purchase. But in the end it was my rightside of my brain that made the final decision because I went to ever camera shop in town and put my hands on ever digital camera in site.

I ended up with the Canon Powershot S45. I can be creative and use the many manual settings or use the automatic settings for those times when I want the camera to do the work. It has a panorama/stitch setting so I can go as wide as I want with a scene. I got this camera specifically for my bike rides and have taken hundreds of outstanding photos of my trips. It also helped that I purchased a 256mb memory card so I could take the highest quality picture without fear of running out of memory so quickly.

With all of this said, the bottom line is there is no perfect camera. This camera is perfect for me, but may not be right for everyone else. Buying a digital camera is like buying a bike. You've got to get out there and try them all out to see which one best fits your needs and budget.

With all the photos I've taken I've never had a need to get a reader because the USB cable from the camera to the computer has worked just fine.

My main concern is for the wide angle shots and night scenes. My current digital camera is nice, but doesn't accomodate for these types of situations. I've been in some beautiful places at night and I've wanted to capture it in film, and so far, I've been unable to do so.

Another concern is for the wide angle- I get to a place on a mountaintop or I get to a ruin or something along those lines, and I can't take the whole scene in- I end up taking two half shots and combining them into one whole shot, which sucks.

Finally, I am concerned with taking multiple shots in a short amount of time. It caused significant angst when I was trying to take shots of the guys finishing in the first pack at the Giro and I could only get 3 or 4 shots of the peloton as they passed. If I'd had a quicker camera, I would have had better shots of the finish line, then I could just edit out the pictures I didn't want. There was a time I was on a boat and there were whales or dolphins or something along those lines, and when they jump out of the water, my camera hasn't been quick enough to get the shot. What a pain in the butt to be standing there for an hour and not get the shot of that dolphin jumping out of the water against the sunset.... stuff like that.

I'm realizing I need a better camera, but so far, there's only two good digital cameras out there with the wide angle lens, and those are the only two I can consider. That's why I'm so fixated on the two I listed- if someone knows of other cameras that have what I need, I'd be interested in knowing, but these cameras were released this year (one in August and the other in September), so I don't think there is another digital camera out there that exists right now.